Evelyn Anthony

Evelyn Bridget Patricia Ward-Thomas (; 3 July 1926 – 25 September 2018), better known by the pen name Evelyn Anthony, was a British writer. Anthony was born in the Lambeth district of London. She had a very prolific writing career, translated into at least 19 languages and her 1971 novel The Tamarind Seed was adapted for a film in 1974, starring Julie Andrews as Judith Farrow.

Early life and education Anthony was born Evelyn Bridget Patricia Stephens on 3 July 1926 in Lambeth, London. Her father was Henry Christian Stephens, a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and her mother was Elizabeth Stephens (née Sharkey). She had one older half sister, Phyllis.

Anthony was a keen reader as a child and attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart school in Roehampton as a boarder from the age of ten. Her parents' marriage was not happy and by the time she was 12, they had divorced. She was close to her father and when his health deteriorated within two years of the divorce, she cared for him at home.

She published novels consistently throughout her life, until the publication of her final novel, Mind Games (2005). Two of her novels – Anne Boleyn (1956) and Victoria (1957) – won the United States Literary Guild award. The Occupying Power received the 1973 Yorkshire Post award.

Personal life Anthony met Michael Ward-Thomas, an executive for the Consolidated African Selection Trust, on a double date at The Dorchester. They were immediately attracted to each other and switched partners, marrying a few months later, on 16 April 1955. The couple had four sons and two daughters between 1957 and 1965. In 1968, the family moved to Thaxted, Essex, from London as they had purchased Horham Hall. The cost of restoration and maintenance, however, forced them to sell the manor house in 1976 and they moved to Naas, County Kildare, Ireland, where Anthony had relatives. Increased income from her writing allowed her to buy Horham Hall back in 1982, where she subsequently lived until her death.

Anthony became involved in charity work involving members of the armed forces and their families. In 1987, she was appointed as a freeman of the City of London and a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Needlemakers. She became the first female High Sheriff of Essex in 1994. The following year, her daughter Kitty died of a heroin overdose, leading Evelyn to not write for another seven years. In 2004 her husband died of a stroke. She died from heart failure on 25 September 2018 at Horham Hall, at the age of 92.

Partial bibliography

The following bibliography includes both historical novels and thrillers.

1953 : Rebel Princess (later reissued as Imperial Highness) 1954 : Curse Not the King (Museum Press) 1955 : Far Fly The Eagles (Museum Press) 1957 : Anne Boleyn 1958 : Victoria and Albert (Museum Press) 1960 : Elizabeth (Museum Press) aka All the Queen's Men (Thomas Y. Crowell) 1961 : Charles the King (Museum Press) (Doubleday) 1963 : Clandara (Hurst & Blackett) 1964 : The French Bride 1964 : The Heiress (Hurst & Blackett) 1966 : Valentina (Hurst & Blackett) 1967 : The Rendezvous 1968 : Anne of Austria (Hurst & Blackett) 1969 : The Legend 1970 : The Assassin (Hutchinson) 1971 : The Tamarind Seed (Hutchinson) 1972 : The Poellenberg Inheritance (Hutchinson) 1973 : The Occupying Power aka Stranger at the Gates (Hutchinson) 1974 : The Malaspiga Exit also called Mission to Malaspiga (Hutchinson) 1975 : The Persian Ransom (Hutchinson) 1977 : The Silver Falcon (Hutchinson) 1978 : The Return (Hutchinson) 1979 : The Grave of Truth (Hutchinson) 1980 : The Defector (Hutchinson) 1981 : The Avenue of the Dead (Hutchinson) (Cowrad McCann) 1982 : Albatross (Hutchinson) 1983 : The Company of Saints (Hutchinson) 1985 : Voices on the Wind (Hutchinson) 1987 : No Enemy But Time (Hutchinson) 1988 : The House of Vandekar (Hutchinson) 1989 : The Scarlet Thread (Hutchinson) 1991 : The Relic 1992 : The Doll's House (Bantam) 1994 : Exposure 1994 : The Heiress 1994 : Bloodstones (Bantam) 1997 : The Legacy (Bantam) 2002 : A Dubious Legacy 2002 : Codeword Janus 2003 : Sleeping with the Enemy 2004 : Betrayal 2004 : No Resistance 2005 : Mind Games 2015 : The Defector 2015 : The Avenue of the Dead 2015 : The Company of the Saints 2015 : Rebel Prince